Letter: Look in right places for a dog

On puppy mills: Certainly it is a way to earn money – breeding dogs and selling the puppies. And if you do a good, clean, considerate job, it is not easy. Maybe that’s why some mills turn into dog hell.

The recent exposure of dog hells disgusts those of us who are dog and cat lovers. I write this to inform potential dog buyers that there are places to get a dog other than retail stores that support mills. You all know of local dog rescue groups. In fact, we have two dogs we adopted from 4 Luv of Dog Rescue. But did you know there are national rescue groups that provide an adoption service on a national scale.

Currently, we have a purebred English setter that we adopted from a setter rescue group. Fargus (yes, that’s his name) came to us from Louisville, Ky. Several volunteers drove legs of various miles to bring him to Alexandria, Minn. They would have brought him to our driveway, but we thought we should contribute by meeting the last leg in Alex. Then there was Dixie, a purebred English setter with a famous setter gun dog background. She came from Knoxville, Tenn. We met her in Alex, also.

You want a purebred Cairn terrier, 13-inch beagle or perhaps a West Highland white terrier? Hit the Internet. Take in a housebroken, totally vetted new family member. You won’t regret it. Costs? Very reasonable. Cheaper than retail.

If you want a dog bad enough to spend several hundred dollars, then you might love dogs well enough to save one. Save one who needs and deserves it. Put dog hells out of business one dog at a time. We are up to six.